Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Lemon-Sage Roasted Chicken

I tried to get all artsy fartsy with the herbs & flavors in this yummy recipe. Though I really should just leave the artwork to Richard Neuman. I love his stuff. (The Sage, Thyme pics are his artwork.)


~ Lemon Thyme is a pretty pink perennial I like to grow in the garden.  
~ Italian Parsley and Cooking Sage do pretty well in the herb garden, too. Though it's not really a garden. It's just a whole bunch of pots on the deck that get hauled indoors at the first sign of nasty weather.
~ Cooking Sage {Salvia officinalis} is different from the ornamental sages that most of us grow in our gardens. These flowers are edible and have a subtler flavor than the sage leaves.
~ Rosemary comes and goes. {She's such a little weenie.} If I forget to water her, even once, she curls up and dies. But that's okay. Dried, crushed rosemary imparts great flavor to chicken and homegrown potatoes.

As for those Lemons? Perhaps some day I'll get to garden in zone 9 Nirvana. Until then they're on the grocery list.
~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Do you ever bite the bullet and roast a whole chicken? There's not much cause to do so these days since the supermarkets happily do that for us. But every once in awhile I love to make this from-scratch version of that bird in the bag so readily available at the market.
  • Place the chicken in a large stew pot and cover with water.
  • Toss in 2 sliced lemons.
  • Plus, one full cup of crushed herbs just like Simon and Garfunkel suggested way back when ~ parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. 
  • And, 1/2 chopped yellow onion plus lots of chopped, fresh garlic.
  • Put a lid on this mess and let it percolate in the 'frig overnight.
    Drain this glorious bird while you're pre-heating the oven to 475 degrees (F.) Put your cast iron skillet into the oven while it's pre-heating.

    After about 15-20 minutes, remove the hot skillet, coat it with olive oil and brown the chicken in it. Rub some crushed Rosemary and Sage on the chickie. Then roast in that same iron skillet at 475 degrees for about an hour. (Time depends upon the size of the bird.)

    * Now I know what you're thinking... 2 days of effort vs. 10 minutes in the checkout line at the supermarket. Is it worth it? Well... it makes for one ultra-marvy Sunday Dinner. :)

    ** Dearest Hazel: If you're reading this, it's time to step bravely out of the dark ages and ramp that oven up to a hot, hot 475. (This crazy gal recently confessed that she never cooks anything hotter than 325. (Huh??)

    16 comments:

    Unknown said...

    Bake it yourself for that wonderful scent in the home.

    Hazel would have passed out with my old stove. It was either 275 or 550 degrees. Love the new stove.

    Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

    My old stove was like that, too. One holiday season we had to broil our Christmas cookies because that was the only part of it that decided to work!

    Killara girl said...

    oohhh it got so spooky over here! lol. i don't buy much premade food but i love to bake the breasts...my family doesn't really eat the other pieces anyway...mind you I bake several at a time and freeze so they always have extras for their snacks..tacs etc.

    Snowcatcher said...

    I love your new background! How eerily cute!

    I like to bake my own, too, but succumb to the rotisseries in the grocery store when working long, long hours. I can't wait to try your recipe.

    I bake my yardbirds (as The Lizard calls them) on a lower temp, too. Seems to make them juicier...

    Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

    Hi, Snowcatcher!
    You and I Hazel could be BFFs! :)

    Rose said...

    Sounds delicious, Kate! I'm sure a supermarket chicken wouldn't compare in taste. Besides, you make cooking this sound like fun:) Broiled Christmas cookies--ha, ha:)

    Chloe m said...

    I have recently fallen in love with my cast-iron pans again.
    I threw out the teflon.

    This recipe looks marvelous. I am cooking chicken tonight and may adapt it a bit for dinner. Thanks!
    Rosey

    Melanie J Watts said...

    Kate, reading this post made me hungry. I have a chicken in the freezer maybe I will roast it instead of curry.

    A Garden of Threads said...

    Sounds so yummy, I do cook a whole chicken now and then. Love the smell that fills the house. Take care:)

    Unknown said...

    I cook whole chickens all the time--I have no desire to eat something a store has prepared. This sounds like a fabulous, fabulous recipe, and I might just make it this weekend!

    Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

    Hi, Rose!
    That broiling story is totally true. My crummy oven conked out on us on Christmas Eve! Isn't that the rudest timing imaginable??

    Hi, Rosey;
    Last winter a blog commenter told me to dust off the old iron skillets as it would help with my iron deficiency. I did. I'm better. I don't know if that's why but I do love the skillet approach for roasting.

    Hi, Jen;
    The aromas are very enticing. And, hey, thanks again for that fabulous photo! I luv it.

    Give it a try, Jodi;
    I bet you'll love the flavors. :))

    Garden Lily said...

    Kate - Your mosaic is delightful, as is Richard Neuman's work. I haven't roasted anything for ages, but I do remember that the smell in the house is wonderful. I should try again this winter - it heats the house too.

    Wow, I would have never thought of frying yourself out of iron deficiency - pretty neat.

    Gail said...

    Hay, Kate. Surprise. Long time since I have been playing. The lemon-rosemary chicken sounds good. Hope all is well with you.
    Gail

    Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

    Hi, Garden Lily;
    Well I don't know if that was the whole reason why I'm better - but it is a clever notion and I kind of think it helped...

    Gail!
    Oh, my, it's so nice to see you over here. Hope all is well. Thanks for stopping by. :)

    Amy said...

    Hi Kate! Your chicken recipe sounds mighty appealing especially on a rainy day (like today!). Your new look is fun too!

    meemsnyc said...

    This chicken sounds so amazing. Love lemon and sage combination.